Faux hawks: Players aren't really at war at Hard Knocks, but it seems like it

Preview

Combat is on the rise in Central Florida, and that makes Joe Wheeler happy.

He's no war monger. He and his wife, Dena, are the owners of Hard Knocks, an indoor combat-simulation arena just off Alafaya Trail in Oviedo.

There you'll spy little girls engaged in mock battle, strategizing behind big crates in the warehouse-designed venue — or college guys teaming up to deactivate a hidden bomb. Nearby, grown-ups lurk amid the pod of Hard Knocks' abandoned-office arena as piped-in music blares from above.

"People love shooting in the office," Wheeler says.

With more sophisticated tactics and missionsthan paint ball or laser tag, Hard Knocks equips patrons with authentic-looking weapons and assigns missions staged in the warehouse or office space. The firearms may look real — think M16, M4 or P90 — but shoot only infrared beams. Players are eliminated when sensors on their bodies meet those beams.

"We didn't want the feel of laser tag," Wheeler says. "We wanted real combat experieces — well, that starts with the guns, the equipment. We wanted them to be an accurate weight, and we wanted them to sound real and have that real feel."

Missions fluctuate with the number of players or type of group involved. The goal may be to protect the team leader or to discover a secret sabateur among the cubicles. Or it may be a free-for-all amid giant crates and barrels.

"Imagine a 30,000-square-foot combat arena with 80 to 100 people in it — and everyone's on their own," Wheeler says.

Hard Knocks' clientele splits into three categories: pure recreation, corporate team building and law-enforcement agencies that tailor the space for training exercises.

Carissa Burgos threw a birthday party for her husband, Carlos Burgos, at Hard Knocks. She invited about 10 friends to celebrate and compete.

"I just wanted to do something different for him," she said. "He plays enough video games. I wanted to put him to the test."

Carlos Burgos said he had played paintball before but "It wasn't really this extensive."

He and his pals dished out some trash talk during the competition and beforehand on Facebook. They finished several missions in a two-hour stretch.

"We've been creaming them every time," he says. "Obviously, it was awesome."

Sherri Lava, human resources manager for the Orlando office of accounting firm RSM McGladrey, arranged a team-building outing for 80 employees. One mission was to secure a powerful key.

"We really had to work together to find the key and place the key in an area where the next person would pick it up and eliminate our opponents," Lava says. "It just fostered great teamwork."

In the one-on-one events, she was eliminated quickly.

"When we worked together as a team, our team was able to keep each other alive and stay in active combat," she says.

Women are successful in Hard Knocks' league nights and tournaments, not just during bachelorette parties, Wheeler said.

"They're more patient and disciplined when it comes to combat," he says. "A lot of male customers like to run and gun."

Before each mission, players go into the armory for instructions and preparation. Selecting a weapon that works with your body type is important, Wheeler says.

"I chose the wrong weapon at first," Lava says. "I chose the really big, heavy gun. It was hard to move around and just to carry it." She switched to a smaller weapon for better maneuverability.

A new mission is introduced monthly, Wheeler says.

The average person spends $20 to $40 for several hours of entertainment, he says. Players pay for the time actually involved in a mission. If a customer buys an hour of time but is eliminated after three minutes, there's still 57 minutes in the account. Group rates and other discounts are available.

The business hasn't felt push-back from the anti-gun crowd, Wheeler says.

"We have always been ready for the inquiry about how this ties to violence and that piece of the puzzle. But it hasn't come," he says. "It's entertainment and not that different than the action movies that come out or the action video games that come out."

Hard Knocks opened in May 2007 and reached profitablity within months, Wheeler says.

"Since that time we've had year-over-year increases in revenue in the high 20s," he says. Hard Knocks has put more than 80,000 individuals into action, he says.On a busy Saturday, they can have as many as 3,000 customers.

The company is working on franchising in other cities and receives several inquiries a week, he says.

"We're really starting to probe those and look at a few different big markets and start to figure out which will be our first franchises," Wheeler says.

Dewayne Bevil can be reached at 407-420-5477 or dbevil@OrlandoSentinel.com. Read the Theme Park Rangers blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/tpr.